https://dripcoffeeco.com/blogs/news.atomDrip Coffee - About Us2017-11-28T13:01:00-06:00Drip Coffeehttps://dripcoffeeco.com/blogs/news/as-a-dallas-coffee-roaster2017-11-28T13:01:00-06:002017-11-28T13:02:46-06:00As a Dallas coffee roasterBrittany Stephenson
As a Dallas coffee roaster, we get a lot of questions about raw coffee, fresh coffee, coffee beans, other coffee shops. We love it!

Our style is different from many others. We are a traditional coffee shop with traditional options. Here, a cappuccino is a cappuccino, not a small latte. Espresso is bold and thick. Cold brew never sour or tea-like.

We know that things are supposed to change with the times. But really? We like it our way.

We love making foam. We love roasting coffee. We love coffee beans. We love getting reviews as "the best coffee near me".

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https://dripcoffeeco.com/blogs/news/traditional-roast-vs-contemporary-roast-and-notes-on-the-supply-chain2017-04-28T14:22:00-05:002017-04-28T14:22:57-05:00Traditional Roast vs Contemporary Roast AND notes on the supply chainBrittany Stephenson
Many of you may have noticed our "Contemporary Roast" sitting on the counter, or being carefully prepared in a Chemex. This is new to Drip, don't be shy. Have a sample!

What is "Contemporary Roast"?

Our New Contemporary Roast is a lighter roast that allows the coffee's origin characteristics to more easily shine. It can be likened to a blonde roast.

While the contemporary roast might have mellow notes of sugar and fruit, malt and citrus, our traditional roast will taste more of cedar and camphor, pine and dark chocolate.

What is Traditional Roast?

Historically, Drip has roasted in a northern european style. These coffees are rich and often oily, roasted past second crack and into the dry-distillation phase of roasting.

Traditional roast coffee pairs exceptionally well with cream and sugar. It holds up under milk and syrup-based beverages and it gives our brews a decidedly different flavor from the cinnamon-roast-styles that are common on the market today.

We love the traditional roast because it reminds us of the crisp edges of a brownie, or the perfect char on a wood-fired pizza and, in the case of cold brew, our traditional roast is the best in town. It is milk chocolate, pecan and velvety (This is especially so of our Nitro).

Why Have More than One Roast?

We've decided to add an additional roast to our line up, to salute the great diversity of flavor that can exist in any one cup of coffee.

Coffee beverages are the extract of coffee fruit-seeds that have been roasted and ground. The supply chain through which coffee reaches your lips is long and variable. At any point in the supply chain coffee qualities can be enhanced or hindered. This matters because, in truth, no two brews of coffee are the same.

The delicate chemical reactions that take place while brewing coupled with the vast array of plant varieties, origins and processing methods, by reducing the "roast flavor", our "lighter" option truly highlights the unique-ness of the coffees we source.

The coffee seeds we choose to feature as our contemporary roast are not arbitrary. They are chosen for their quality, their story and their sweetness. You can read their stories here on our web store by searching "contemporary roast".

Drink up!

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https://dripcoffeeco.com/blogs/news/the-beauty-of-12-years2017-04-20T14:11:00-05:002017-04-20T14:22:25-05:00The Beauty of 12 YearsBrittany Stephenson
The beauty of 12 years is that lots of people come in because we know their names.

The beauty of 12 years is that the manager remembers the olden days.

The beauty of 12 years is that you know you are doing it right and that you should keep on doing it.

This week has been continually busy.

The morning rush lines out the door and it stays there all morning. About half of them come often enough that we make their drink before they say hello. Others, about 25% come in less regularly, or switch up their orders. With them, we have to confirm. And the new ones? We know them too.

The new ones are usually less passive. They scan the menu, put their phones away, ask what our specialty is, ask if we have coffee of the day. "What brings you here?" we might venture. They usually say something like, "I heard you had great cold brew." Or, "People always leave your cups in the locker room at the gym down the street."

Whatever their reason for coming, they soon settle with the groove. It doesn't take long for their laughter and their voices to be heard amongst the regular crowd.

----

The line dies down and the steam wands resound with a hissing blast of air. The buzz is energizing and exciting. It mixes with the Big Band Jazz on the radio.

The tables are full of the usual suspects, Doc, Linda, Pistol, double-shot-extra-dry-almond-milk-cappuccino lady. Ever so often they roar with laughter. "Is it that time of morning already?" We ask, and to another, "How's your daughter's broken foot?"

Being seen and seeing the same people-- after 12 years-- it means it's a community. The beauty of 12 years is that its a community.

All across the world coffee shops, supervisors and baristas manage the morning rush. Some statistics indicate that upwards of 6.2 billion cups of coffee are consumed every day. I imagine that well more than half is consumed between 6 am and 9:30 am.

Although every morning rush is comprised of the same, sleepy clientele, each cafe is unique in its response to the rush, its enjoyment (or stress) around the rush and its dependance upon the rush for survival. A poorly managed cafe will quickly descend into messy counter tops, toppled milk pitchers, empty urns of coffee and forgotten drinks.

This is not the case at Drip.

Steve Thatcher has been managing the morning rush in cafes for over 25 years. But, even still, today, you'd think he just found the thrill of it. There's nothing he likes more than "serving the customers".

"The Customers", he says.

"Uh, Hello?" He gestures toward the door, "We've got customers." His Amarillo draw squeezes the word together. It sounds more like "Kustmers."

For a speciality shop, Steve knows the importance of efficiency and customer service. Despite having one register and no drive thru window, Drip easily dispenses 500 cups of coffee between the hours of 6:30 am and 10:30 am.

"Dang, it was busy today." I might say.

Steve will appear as if he didn't notice. "Oh really?"

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https://dripcoffeeco.com/blogs/news/coffee-roasting2017-04-10T12:08:00-05:002017-04-10T21:42:51-05:00Coffee RoastingBrittany Stephenson
The smell of roast-ing coffee is rather different from the smell of roast-ed coffee, and while many people are surprised by the unexpected difference, it is surely hard to forget.

Catch a whiff of that roast-ing smell and you'll find yourself following your nose to the nearest roastery.

Coffee roasting is the process of heating up and browning the sugary, protein-rich oils, minerals and acids that are trapped within the coffee seed. The roaster's heat expands the bean, releasing aromatics and solubles, bringing forth that icon roast-ed smell. If not for the roasting process, coffee seeds would be hard to grind and wheat-y in flavor.

Any coffee roaster will tell you that batches respond differently to heat. Cup quality responds to a variety of environments, storage conditions, wet and dry milling, farm conditions, growing regions and age.

Although coffee can stay fresh much longer, we roast our batches 6 days a week.

I'd like to invite you to buy a bag of Drip Coffee. We stand apart with our traditional european roast-style by taking our coffees to a deep-rich darkness. It can be likened to the hard edges of a fresh brownie, or the perfect char of oven-baked pizza.

For you who revel in classic, iconic cups, Drip Coffee is just right for you. (Although, we do have a light roast, or two ;o)

All the best,

Brittany

*there are many more components to the cellular structure of coffee.

**coffee has more than 48 different acids, they are necessary for the complexity and richness associated with cup quality. Not all acid in coffee is harsh or acrid.

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https://dripcoffeeco.com/blogs/news/barista-competition2017-04-03T14:36:00-05:002017-04-03T14:51:40-05:00Barista CompetitionBrittany StephensonDrip Coffee is full of artists and go getters and, to say the least, competitive people. So, we decided to put on a barista competition to see just who had the top barista chops of the staff.

Categories included:

Order of Operations (ie, most effecient)

Milk Texture (how good is the foam?)

Milk Temperature (too hot? not hot enough?)

Overall Quality (based on taste)

Cleanliness

and Drink Calling

It was a crazy night with photographers, bloggers and videographers.. not to mention, BYOB. Needless to say, we got silly.

We had some real surprises along the way and learned a lot about each other. One thing's for sure, we are a real crew here at Drip.

Be sure to check out Drip Coffee Facebook Live, to see the details, learn who won and see who's latte art took the cake.

She's the shop ninja and visual artists behind much of what we do. Her familiarity with customers and passion for great service makes her irreplaceable and a breath of fresh air.

When chatting with Erica we asked just a few questions and her responses were epic:

Why do you like Drip Coffee? / What has kept you around so long?"I like Drip coffee because we have a good quality product that I feel proud to serve. It makes it easier to be into what you're selling if you have a good product. I've stayed around so long because this has been the best job I have had. I feel like I'm important here. The customers care about us just as much as I care about them." What are you biggest challenges at work?"My biggest challenge was trying to get previous employees to care about Drip as much as I did. Honestly, I just felt like I was trying to make everyone get along, and make everyone love the job as much as I do. Now that those people have left, I feel better about moving forward." What do you like about coffee in general?"I didn't try coffee until I was in college. I had to sweeten it with lots of sugar and cream to get rid of the taste, but I drank it because it made me feel happy, alert, and creative. All my best [art] pieces in college came out of long nights staying up drawing and drinking coffee. It helps me get my juices flowing when I have to brainstorm. I'm no coffee expert, but I can definitely recommend a coffee to someone based on what they tell me they like in coffee." What about your job inspires you and gets you out of bed in the morning?"Getting up so early is still hard for me, but I look forward to getting up and helping to start someone's day off in a positive way.

I've left jobs in the past because I felt like the company I was working for didn't actually care about their customers. Going to work was nerve wrecking because I felt like I was in a position to try to make that company seem like they cared when I knew they didn't, which made me feel like i was a liar. I always left work thinking about all the people I could have helped but wasn't allowed to. I like that our priority at Drip is our customers`and we're selling a product that is good quality and makes people happy."

If you could define a vision for the future, what would it be?"For the future of Drip Coffee, I hope that once we start opening more stores, we can keep them all running like a well oiled machine. Each location should have the same quality and efficiency as the others. I want quality to stay high as we grow."

In addition to being Drip General Manager and Barista Ninja, Erica A. is an accomplished visual artist.

Drip Coffee Company was founded by Steve Thatcher, a veteran of the coffee business with more than 25 years owning and operating specialty coffeehouses.

Steve opened his first store, Roasters Coffee & Tea Company, in his home town of Amarillo, Texas, in 1992. Later, he opened a second location in Boston, which won “Best Coffee” by Boston Magazine.

Steve’s latest venture, Drip Coffee Company, opened in December 2005 in the heart of Dallas’ Park Cities. Drip’s mission is quite simple… to go over and beyond for our clientele. We provide not only the highest quality coffee available but also, exceptionally customer-focused service.

We are proud of the diversity in our 100% Arabia line up. From South America to Indonesia, we roast 6 days a week, in small batches, to ensure only fresh coffee at its peak flavor.

We are honored that Chef Dean Fearing chose our coffee to be served at Fearing’s Restaurant in the Ritz-Carlton in Dallas.